Effects of a psychiatric clinical rotation on pharmacy students' attitudes toward mental illness and the provision of pharmaceutical care to the mentally ill

Previous studies have found ineffectiveness of psychiatric clinical rotations to change pharmacy students' attitudes toward mental illness, but those studies had various limitations that cast doubt on this conclusion. Pharmacy students who participated in a psychiatric clinical rotation over a 2-year time frame were invited to complete a survey at the beginning and end of their rotation. The survey included scales that measured attitudes toward dangerousness, social distance, stigmatization, suicide prevention, and provision of pharmaceutical care. Forty-one (100%) students participated in the study. Statistically significant positive changes in total scale scores from pre-rotation to post-rotation were seen in the areas of stigmatization toward patients with schizophrenia ( = .02), attitudes toward suicide prevention ( = .05), and provision of pharmaceutical care services to patients with schizophrenia (